While a water crisis exists in many African nations in the form of a shortage of potable water fit for human consumption or water that is in relatively close proximity and easy to carry, the United State is also on the brink of a water crisis in the form of pure, health-inducing water that is fit for human consumption and contributing to health. The contamination of our water – for drinking, bathing and cooking, is in the form of FDA “’allowable” heavy metals — such as arsenic — fluoride and chlorine that are often intentionally added to our water supply, are creating debilitating health conditions, from birth defects to Alzheimer’s.
An increasing number of Americans and their households are turning to solutions to these unnecessary threats to our health by purchasing water filtration products and/or systems to their homes. The number of available filtration solutions is broad and innovation never stops. For drinking water, there are portable “travel mug” type gravity-feed water filters that can be conveniently taken anywhere. For home or office use, there are pitcher-size gravity-feed water filters that remove some of the contaminants one-fourth of a gallon at a time; gravity-feed models that can filter larger amounts of water – from 1.5 gallons up to 6 gallons; there are individual faucet filters that can be easily added to kitchen faucets and filtering shower heads to remove chlorine that can enter the body through the pores in the skin and finally, very large household filtration systems that are installed where the water supply enters the house from the street and filter all water throughout the home. These seem to offer the most worry-free solution, since they cover 100% of the water the family uses.
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The filtration power of all of these options varies, with some choices doing a superlative job of filtering out a broad spectrum of unwanted elements with a high percentage of efficiency, while others filter out all of some elements and lesser amounts of other elements. Some larger gravity-feed models can even safely filter stream water or pool water to make it potable. This is especially useful in areas that experience natural disasters that damage the water supply on a regular basis. The best among these do not filter out important minerals that we need for health, but do remove harmful microbes, bacteria and viruses, leaving the water pure and safe for all human uses.
If you live in an area where the everyday water supply is suspect or proven harmful, you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to invest in the water filtration options that work best for your situation and to produce the water you need for a healthy, thriving life.
